The Wrong Question

Tilford E. Dudley, 62, readily admits that "I always tease pretty girls." So when an American Airlines stewardess paused alongside his seat on a Boston-to-Washington flight two weeks ago and asked his destination, he flashed an el fin grin and replied with a question of his own: "How long does it take to Cuba?" A number of people have been escorted off airplanes in recent months for asking similar questions--Marlon Brando, for one. But Dudley was not quite prepared for what happened next.

Minutes after his exchange with the stewardess, three Massachusetts state police appeared in the aisle. They hand cuffed Dudley, a descendant of the founder of Cambridge, a Harvard Law School alumnus and currently a United Church of Christ official. He was hustled off the plane, taken to a police station and booked for disturbing the peace. Police took his belt, glasses, comb and watch, then jailed him for two hours. "I thought they were joking," said Dudley, but he knew that they were not when one cop told him: "You be careful of what you say or we'll send you to a state insane asylum for 30 days examination."

In East Boston District Court last week, Dudley's lawyer argued that the charge of disturbing the peace has traditionally been brought only against those who are "inciting violence or making a loud outcry." Eleven witnesses testified that none of the other passengers had been upset by Dudley's remarks.

Nevertheless, noting the rash of recent plane hijackings, District Court Judge Guy Rizzotto said: "Making a crack about Cuba in an airplane is the same as standing up in a theater and crying 'fire.' " Dudley was found guilty and fined $200. He plans to appeal to a Massachusetts superior court.

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